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Ukrainian intelligence agencies blocked former President Petro Poroshenko from leaving the country to meet with Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán over an alleged Kremlin plot to diminish Western support for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Saturday that it was behind the decision from the Verkhovna Rada parliament in Kyiv to block a planned trip to Budapest by Petro Poroshenko, who served as the president of Ukraine for five years after coming to power on the heels of a Western-backed coup against his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych over his decision to reject EU demands of...

According to our source, the possibility of this unannounced meeting was one of the reasons for the parliamentary leadership's cancellation of Poroshenko's trip.The Ukrainian leadership believes that a meeting between the former president and the Hungarian PM could further damage Ukraine-Hungary relations, which are currently in a crisis.Orban is planning to block negotiations for Ukraine's entry into the European Union and the allocation of EUR 50 billion ($55 billion) in financial aid to Kyiv—both issues to be discussed at the upcoming EU summit in December.

Michigan Wolverines, SEC or ACC school? Sounds insane, right? Turns out it may not be as crazy as it sounds, if a report from Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg is to be believed. Rosenberg reported that the University of Michigan’s board of regents met last week to discuss the possibility of leaving the Big Ten conference entirely. The regents were, as of last week, concerned the conference commissioner Tony Petitti might suspend head coach Jim Harbaugh over the Connor Stalions scandal without due process. And then Petitti suspended Jim Harbaugh because of the sign stealing scandal without due process. OutKick’s Trey...

Bishop Karen Oliveto sees her consecration in 2016 as a breaking point for some of the thousands of people who have made the once unthinkable decision to leave the United Methodist Church. Oliveto is the church's first openly gay bishop and oversees congregations in Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and one church in Idaho. Her service defies long-standing rules in the denomination. Disregard for those church laws is fueling divisions that have already led to the exodus of about 20% of the United Methodist Church's congregations across the U.S. since disaffiliations began in 2019. The number of members who have left...

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) says he is “thinking seriously” about leaving the Democratic Party and declaring himself an independent before the 2024 election, when he will have to decide whether to run for a fourth Senate term or wage a third-party bid for president. Manchin, who earlier this year described himself as an independent Democrat, told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval on Thursday that the Democratic brand has “become so bad.” “I’m thinking seriously. For me, I have to have peace of mind, basically. The brand has become so bad — the D brand and R brand....

One-third of Seattle residents are considering packing up and moving elsewhere, largely citing home prices and crime, according to a Seattle Times/Suffolk University poll conducted in June. Roughly 33 percent of Seattle residents surveyed say they are seriously considering moving out of the city, while 67 percent say they are not. The survey was conducted with 500 residents by phone from June 12-16 and has a ±4.4 percent margin of error.

Nearly 70% of California residents say they are happy in the state, but over 40% also say that they are thinking about leaving it, according to a new poll. The California Community Poll, by Strategies 360, was conducted by the Los Angeles Times and a consortium of community groups between June 6 to 16 among 1354 residents of the Golden State. It found, among other results: “Robust majorities of residents across regional, demographic, and racial lines feel happy about living in California (71%), report that living in California is important to their personal identities (68%), and say California is a...

During an interview set to air on Friday’s edition of “The Issue Is,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) argued that cities are leaving San Francisco because they’re “struggling to recover from the pandemic” and “struggling with the macroeconomic shifts,” there are “issues related to Walgreens and others that have shut down all across this country. Everything in San Francisco, again, gets colored in and it’s made 10x bigger.” But there are “challenges” in the city that have necessitated sending the National Guard and California Highway Patrol into the city.

Former President Obama says exiting the White House helped give his marriage to Michelle Obama a boost. The 44th president was asked in a Tuesday interview with “CBS Mornings” co-host Nate Burleson about comments the former first lady had made about not liking her husband for roughly “10 years” of their union. “How do you get back in good graces?” Burleson asked Obama to laughs from the ex-commander-in-chief. “Let me just say this: It sure helps to be out of the White House and to have a little more time with her,” Obama replied.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) sparked speculation that he may leave the Democrat party ahead of 2024, amid his latest comments about having a close relationship with “No Labels.” The Democrat senator touted his relationship with No Labels, the political group that has been trying to allow all 50 states to vote on a third-party candidate in the presidential elections, and the possibility of a nationwide run. “I’ve been part of No Labels since December of 2010. It’s the only game in town that wants to bring people together and get Democrats and Republicans working together,” Manchin told the Hill.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed an executive order prohibiting state employees from leaving the country for “non-governmental purposes” while mobilization and martial law are in effect. The ban comes just days after news broke that Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko had used a car owned by Kyiv businessman Grigory Kozlovsky to take a Spain vacation in December and January. Symonenko reportedly submitted his resignation on Monday. The new rule applies to Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers, leaders of the Office of the President, Verkhovna Rada deputies, judges, prosecutors, and heads of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Central Election...

Wednesday, during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) touted his independence, differentiating himself from the Democratic Party. However, Manchin indicated he was in no rush to follow his colleague Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-AZ) lead and leave the Democratic caucus. “Jake, I don’t think there’s anyone more independent than me,” he said. “And that we have been voting in my entire life, over 40 years. I’m not a Washington Democrat. I have a lot of good friends who are Washington Republicans. This party tribal mentality is killing our country. People are sick and tired of it. I...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Sunday sidestepped questions about whether he’d leave the Democratic Party after being asked about his comments regarding his serving in the Senate as an “independent voice.” Manchin avoided saying outright if he’d join fellow centrist Sen. Krysten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who shocked Washington earlier this month by announcing that she would become an Independent. The West Virginia Democrat instead criticized hyper-partisanship in Congress and said he would wait and see how the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act “plays out” before making a decision about his affiliation. “If people are trying to stop something...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. is criticizing Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema after she announced her decision to leave the Democratic Party and register as an independent on Friday. Sinema announced the decision in an Arizona Republic op-ed published on Friday, criticizing America's two party system. "Americans are told that we have only two choices – Democrat or Republican – and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes," Sinema wrote. "Most Arizonans believe this is a false choice, and when I ran for the U.S. House and...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said she “certainly” planned to stay on in her job for the duration of President Joe Biden’s term, dismissing speculation she was considering leaving after this month’s midterm elections. Yellen told an event hosted by the New York Times Dealbook she had no plans to leave Treasury. “I’m committed to staying,” Yellen said. “I’m excited about the agenda. I’m excited about what President Biden has accomplished so far, and I think there’s more to come.” Speculation about whether Yellen, 76, will remain in the job has increased in recent months, and the Republican takeover...

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Tyson Foods Inc. became the latest large company to announce its departure from Chicago, continuing a trend in the city that many have argued is the result of the city's skyrocketing rates of crime and threatens to do harm to its most vulnerable populations. "You're talking about a situation where you have a hollowed out economy, where you have businesses leaving, there are no jobs," Heritage Foundation senior research fellow in the Center for Health and Welfare Policy Robert Moffit told Fox News Digital last month. "And the people who are desperately hurt by this are mostly low income and...

During a portion of an interview aired on Tuesday’s edition of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) stated that while “the horrific crimes that we’re seeing” keep her up at night and are “frightening” people, “New York City is still the safest big city in America. Look at Chicago, look at San Francisco, look at Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Washington. People leaving New York, I’m not sure where they’re going to go because we are the safest big city in America.” Hochul said, “First of all, public safety is my number one priority. This is what...

More home buyers departed from San Francisco than any other metro area in July and August, according to a new Redfin housing report. The Bay Area leads the country in people planning to relocate despite an overall decline in those looking to leave from this time last year, which the report attributes to a recent drop in the area's home prices. These numbers are determined by how many Redfin.com users were looking to leave an area compared to how many were looking to move in. According to Redfin, 24.1% of its local users searched for properties outside of the Bay...

Former President Donald Trump told staffers “I’m just not going to leave” the White House after losing the 2020 election — and even asked his Diet Coke valet for his opinion on whether he should stay put, a new book claims. The tidbits from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman’s forthcoming tome “Confidence Man” were reported Monday by CNN, where Haberman is a contributor to on-air politics coverage. According to the book, Trump initially appeared to accept former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory, telling one adviser “we did our best” and saying to other aides that “I thought we had...